Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. After failing to meet expectations in Minnesota, a formerly touted Twins prospect is now mashing baseballs for his current team.
It almost feels like this story has shades of David Ortiz, Matt Garza, or even Carlos Gomez. All three were celebrated young players that never quite panned out here, but found success after they left.
Remember Aaron Hicks?
Today on ESPN, Buster Olney described Hicks as one of the “best players” for the Yankees.
Hicks was supposed to be Byron Buxton before the Twins drafted Byron Buxton. The 2008 first-round pick played 247 games as a member of the Twins and only hit .225 with a below average .655 OPS. He mustered only 20 home runs while striking out 206 times.
As Olney stated, Hicks has been red-hot in his second year with New York. In just 24 games with the Yankees in 2017, the former Twin is hitting .342 with six home runs, a whopping 1.105 OPS and 16 walks.
His batting average would rank fourth in the American League if he had enough at-bats to qualify. More impressive is his OPS, which is tucked between a couple of decent players, Mike Trout and Miguel Sano.
Before the 2016 season, Hicks was dealt to the Yankees for catching prospect John Ryan Murphy.
Murphy hit .146 and had 19 strikeouts in 26 games with the Twins last season and he hasn’t sniffed the big leagues yet this season.
